A Tour Through South America

by A. S. Forrest

A digression may be made here touching the strain of insanity which characterised this particular Royal line. One action of Dom João’s is almost as incredible as it is gruesome. He ordered that his mother, who had started her career by marrying her uncle and ended it in an asylum in Brazil, should not be buried for six years.

If the body had been embalmed that would have been nothing unusual, but the Portuguese law prescribes such treatment only for males of the Royal house. When João found himself back in Lisbon he gave orders for his mother’s body to be brought from Brazil and buried with state ceremony; the Queen, be it noted, had been six years dead!

Here is an eye-witness’s account of the awful spectacle: “The next day the Church of the Estrella overflowed with spectators, and the corpse was exposed in full court dress, while the nobility came successively to kiss the hand!... Two of the young princesses were appointed by the King to the high honour of presiding, and four ladies-in-waiting performed the enviable office of tire-women to the corpse. It had been brought over from Brazil enclosed in three coffins, the inner one of lead, where it was laid, surrounded by aromatic herbs, gems, and essences.... One of the princesses fainted twice, and was too ill to reappear; but her sister was obliged to remain, while the ladies raised the body and completely reclothed it in a black robe, a dress cap, gloves, shoes, and stockings, and adorned it with four splendid orders upon the heart.” This throws a lurid light on the attitude still shown to the dead in some Latin-American countries. The bodies of the rich are treated with garish pomp; the bodies of the poor with shameful neglect, if not with contumely.

THE CHURCH OF THE CANDELIERA, RIO.

Dom Pedro I was a daring, dashing monarch, with mercurial blood running in his veins. His attempts to establish absolutism irritated the Brazilians, who had now advanced too far along the path of political freedom to tolerate that sort of thing; so, in the struggle between people and ruler, the ruler got the worst of it. In 1831, cowed by the determined front which the troops and civilians presented, Pedro I abdicated in favour of his infant son, Dom Pedro de Atcantara. His was a curious type of character, and the most that can be said of him is that he made a showy figure on the South American stage, where showy figures have in the past been so abundant. His faults were not only political; in his private life he was far from being a paragon.

Pedro II was only five years old when he succeeded to the throne of Brazil, and for ten years the country was governed by a regency of three members elected by the legislative chambers, and latterly by one chosen by the electors. As might be surmised, things did not go smoothly, and many risings, revolts, and intrigues embarrassed the Government, which, however, was successful in quelling them for the time being. In 1840, the King being fifteen years of age, he was declared to be of legal age, and he started on his long and popular reign. Two political parties represented the people, the Liberals and Conservatives, and alternately they obtained the ascendancy and grasped the ruling power. The civil wars which raged and distracted the country in the southern State of Rio Grande were followed by the terrible struggle with Paraguay, which was not concluded till 1872. The agitation for the abolition of the slave trade in 1850 was but the precursor of the total abolition of slavery itself nearly forty years afterwards. For years the voices of the abolitionists were raised in the Houses of Congress, with the result that first the trade was abolished (1857), next the declaration that slave-born children were free (1871), and finally all slaves were given their absolute liberty (1888). These drastic changes in the economical conditions of labour in the country were not brought about without much opposition. Great losses were incurred by the planters and slave-owners,[3] who, bitterly opposed to the liberation, turned hostile to the Emperor when he signed the decree, and opposed the claims they urged for compensation. The loss of the support of this wealthy and influential class was an important factor in the overthrow of the monarchy. But the spirit of republicanism which had been engendered by the French Revolution was growing in Brazil and two or three attempts had already been made to establish free institutions in the country. The Republican party had been organised for some years, and an opportunity occurred, and the combination of the anti-monarchists brought about the declaration of the republic in 1889. The feeble old Emperor recognised the strength of the forces arrayed against him, and, powerless to resist the trend of circumstances, he took his congé gracefully. In reply to the communication of the Marshal Deodoro du Fonseca, which informed the Emperor of the intention of the new republic and of his dismissal, he wrote: “Yielding to the imperiousness of circumstances I have resolved to set out with my family to-morrow for Europe, leaving this country so dear to us all, and to which I have endeavoured to give constant proof of my love during the nearly half a century in which I have discharged the office of chief of State: while thus leaving with my whole family I shall ever retain for Brazil the most heartfelt affection and ardent good wishes for her prosperity.”

The new republic with Marshal Deodoro at its head soon got to work, and a constitutional Assembly was organised to compile the constitution of the republic. This was published in the early part of 1891, and in the latter part of the same year the first President was obliged to resign owing to the trouble that arose over his arbitrary unconstitutional closing of the Congress. The army and navy were against the “dictator,” and the States threatened revolt, and peace was only restored when the Vice-President, Floriano Peixoto, took the Presidency. More conspiracies and revolts followed in several of the States, and the navy openly defied the Government, Admiral de Mello demanding the President’s resignation and surrender. Rio and Nictheroy were in a state of siege, and the army placed in positions to defend and keep open the entrance to the harbours. Rio was bombarded, and general disorder prevailed, and civil war raged all over the republic. The “Iron Marshal,” as Peixoto is sometimes called, succeeded eventually in quelling the revolting factors, and owing to the general desire he relinquished the reins of office to Dr. Prudente de Morales, a President who was acceptable to all classes, and who was elected without opposition in 1894. There have been eight Presidents since the republic was inaugurated, and under each the country, in spite of many internal dissensions, has made great strides.

Brazil is destined to assume in the future a far greater importance in the comity of nations than it can boast at present. Its people have no mean record behind them; they have shown a passion for independence and an increasing capacity for government, which argues well for the building up of that great edifice which is certain sooner or later to arise in South America. That they are capable of military valour was demonstrated many times over during the war with Paraguay. The chief need of the country is population, and when the other States emulate the example of São Paulo and invite and encourage emigration Brazil will advance with more rapid strides to the great goal that awaits her.